Cumming Merger Decisions and the Rules of Procedure of the European Community Courts

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-411-4798-1
Verlag: Wolters Kluwer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 458 Seiten, Web PDF

Article 340 TFEU, which provides a method of compensation for victims of the

Commission’s errors, is invoked as the basis for actions against

Commission decisions under the Merger Control Regulation. Accordingly, the

rules of procedure of the Community Courts come into play. This probing

analysis asks the important questions: What limits can be imposed on the

discretion of the Community Courts acting within their own rules of procedure?

Is the manner in which the Court of Justice interprets those rules sufficient?

Focusing on the crucial Court responsibilities of investigating facts and

assessing economic damage in relation to the type of non-contractual liability

apparent in antitrust cases, the author convincingly demonstrates that the

scope for ‘case management’ by the Courts is strictly limited,

and may engender information or evidentiary deficits that contravene ECHR Art

6.1 as well as the principles of effective judicial protection and rectitude

of decision. A claim for compensation pursuant to Art 340 TFEU may be struck

merely because the basic elements of the cause of

action cannot be established to a minimal level.

As a penetrating analysis of the restricted discretion which the Community

Courts exercise as distinct from the statutory context in which they operate,

this book clears new ground in EU law. Showing that Commission decisions in

antitrust cases – which consider hypothetical future

situations in the event of a proposed merger being carried out – are not

easily reconcilable with the judicial review function of the Courts,

particularly when such decisions have financial and other adverse

consequences, the author provides lawyers, policymakers, and academics in EU

competition law with a new and challenging perspective on their field.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cumming, George

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht